The Hero's Worth
by SpartanDwarfClone
Summary: A strange Lady and a odd creature carrying a Black Chest are in Danger. John swill have to protect them. Little does he know the role that both of them play in his own future...
1. Prologue

"It's the perfect day for adventure. Great things are coming my way...I can just feel it!" said John as he stood on top of the cliff, white and gold armor glinting in the light. Suddenly, a red Dragon flew past him."A Dragon?!" he said. _I thought level 1 were supposed to start off fighting rats or something easy_!, he thought to himself.

The Dragon roared and raised it's head. _Here it comes... the Dragon is about to attack! Time to test my skill as a warrior!_ Then the Dragon lowered it's head and John saw a beautiful lady with a black chest and a small, red creature with large ears that weilded a stick with a leaf on top.

"Hiyas!" said the little creature as he stepped off the Dragon. He skittered beside the warrior and said "The path is clear, Priestess!" The lady carried the Chest and walking towards the end of the Dragon's neck before stopping.

"Please pardon us friend, we are just passing through." she said. She then walked by the warrior and left, with the creature following. The Dragon raised his head.

_I really should just eat this adventurer would save me a lot of trouble in 30 levels or so!_, the Dragon thought. He roared. _But she did make me promise...! _ _The Dragon took off. See you in about 30 levels... ha ha ha!_

"What was that all about?" said John. He followed the Priestess and found a bag of 20 gold peices under a tree.

"Oh my! Who put this carpet in the middle of the forest?" he heard the Priestess exclaim.

"Oh noes! That is not a carpet, Priestess, it is a Gorillaphant!" said the creature. A Gorillaphant was a cross between a Gorilla and Elephant, or that's at least what John could recall from his earlier life as a mercenary. The Gorillaphant roared.

"I will protect you, Priestess!" said the creature. He sounded so very sure of himself. John thought the little guy might be tougher than he looked. Then the Gorillaphant hit him. He flew back and landed right in front of the hero.

"Come on, little fella...let go save the Priestess!" encouraged John. The creature jumped up and jojned John.

"Yeah! I'm Twilly, a moglin!" said the creature.

"What's a Moglin?" asked John.

"Moglins are magical creatures from the Moglin Forest. We are usually good and are healers. We have..."

"Ok, got it. We're kinda in a bad stituation for a super long lesson on the History of the World. Let's go!"

"Ok!" replied Twilly. John and Twilly ran towards the Priestess and found the Gorillaphant about to attack her. The Gorillaphant was grey and as large as a Gorilla with tusks like an Elephant's. The Priestess holding the Black Chest. John ran towards the Gorillaphant and attacked.

John and Twilly attacked first and did some damage, but the Gorillaphant hit John with his tusks. John hit the Gorillaphant twice and Twilly hit him with his stick. The Gorillaphant attempted to strike but missed. They hit once again. John could tell the Gorillaphant was hurt. Bad.

John rose his sword up into the air and hit the Gorillaphant three times. The Gorillaphant fell and shook the ground. John found two gold pieces in a small bag near the Gorillaphant now-lifeless body.

"Thank you for saving me, Brave Warrior. May I know the name of my hero?" the Priestess asked.

"But Priestess... you said his name was John abd that he is the one that is destined to..." said Twilly.

John blinked and said "WHAT?". The Priestess sighed.

"Twilly... Alas, we are out of time, Good Warrior. I must ask an important favor of thee. Would you please let Captain Rolith of Oaklore Keep know that we are taking the shortcut through the forest? The Keep is just up ahead on that path. I am certain that we will paths again."

"Especially since he is going to take that Black Dragon Box and..." started Twilly.

"Twilly!"

"Oh yeah. Sorry.". They then walked off into the Forest.

"Well, I guess I better go to the Keep and deliver that message to Captain Rolith. I wonder if I can get a nice meal and some hot chocolate there." said John. "I hope I get to talk to Twilly again. Strange Nice little creature, that one." And with that, John started the short path ahead towards the Keep of Oaklore Forest.


	2. Oaklore Keep

John was near the Oaklore Keep. At the gates he saw a young knight. He looked like the other Knight at the gate, only this particular Knight had no helm. At the path to the right, he saw another Kinght. He went towards this Knight.

"Hello. I am John, an adventurer and former mercenary!" Aat the mention of 'mercenary', the Knight shuddered with digust. He believed mercenaries to be sell swords cowards, loyal to no one.

"Hello, former cowardly sell-sword. I'm just guarding the Path to Falconreach, not that it needs low life former-mercs. If you are looking for Captain Rolith, the commander of this keep, he is just through those gates there. You're lucky he doesn't see mercs the same way I do. I am Sir Comvent. But you can call me sir." said the Knight.

John hoped the other Kinghts were not as rude as this one. At least Captian Rolith sounded like a decent, friendly person.

"Well, thank you. For the record, I only sold my sword to King Alteon. Also worked here as a cook apprentice, when I was young. So I hope the cook remembers me. If he does, oh you're in for it." replied John to the hateful Sir Comvent.

"Whatever, you snotty-nosed brat."

"Why, I never..."

"ENOUGH!" yelled a Knight from the left side of the keep. He had a Dragon at his side. "Sir Comvent, I want you to treat this traveler with respect! Come here, friend. Talk to the nicer men of the Keep."

John walked over to the Knight. He had long hair, a brown beard, armor like the other Knights, but a Horned Helm with one of the two cattle horns half-broken.

"Who are you?" John inquired of the man.

"My name is Sir Baumbard. I am one of the elite Order of DragonLords. We are the protectors of this realm and will not hesitate to answer the call of those who need us. Who are you, young traveler?"

"I am John, adventurer and former mercenary. I once worked as an apprentice to the cook here."

"I know not of you, but there have been many that have come to train under the Cook of Oaklore Keep. These days though, the food is in shortage and not as good."

"Mind me asking, but what is a DragonLord? I have never of them, though I have not been very active these pass few years."

"DragonLords are riders of Dragons. We form a bond and are with our Dragons until we die. Unless you are lucky enough to befriend an adult Dragon, you must quest for your own egg. Once hatched, you will have a bond with the dragon that will be stronger than any other pet.

"In order to unlock the full potential of your Dragon though, you must wield a Dragon Amulet. This ancient talisman will allow your Dragon to grow to adult form in order to fight the most titanic of enemies, as well as granting you the gift of Dragon Speech."

"How do I quest for a Dragon egg of my own?"

"Speak with Captain Rolith in the Keep when you are experienced enough. Your quest will most likely take you to Falconreach to the east where the small red moglin Twilly will guide you on the rest of your journey."

"Are you one the Knights of this Keep?"

"I was once of the Order of Pactagonal Knights. I never attained the with them, though, as my family's name didn't work with 'sir' in front of it, like the Prizes or Chandestroys. My Knighthood was bestowed upon me by the Great King Alteon himself."

"Why are here at the Keep then?"

"Word has gotten back to the King in Swordhaven that slimes and undead are amassing on edges of the Oaklore Forest. More have been seen in Doomwood and slowly moving in this direction. I am here to organize an aerial assault on the unholy creatures. All you have to do is ask me and you'll be dropping bombs in no time.

"If you are willing, my Dragon, Glumbert, will let you ride him into battle against these evil creatures."

"Not now, but I certainly will after I talk to Captain Rolith."

"If you want, you can go speak with Sir Ano. He is that young knight without the helm. He is near your age, I believe. He may be younger."

"I will go speak to him." John said, closing the conversation. He walked over to Sir Ano.

"Hello, Knight." said John to Sir Ano. "I am John, adventurer and form mercenary."

"Greetings, John, and welcome to Oaklore Keep. Rest a bit, I'm sure your travels have tired you out. After you speak to Rolith and rest, I would like to talk to you. I have a proposition."

"Really, what type of proposition?"

"Some people are born attractive; some have connections. And then there are those like me, making their own way into the world. I could use a little help not falling on my face as I make my way up the Ranks of the Knights."

"So that's where I come in?"

"Exactly!"

"After I speak to Rolith, I listen to you more. Goodbye, friend."

"Good day." said Ano. John then finally stepped into the keep. On his left was a Keep Library and on his right was a Oaklore Keep Armory. Straight ahead was the Inner Keep itself. Home of the Knights of the Pactagonal Table. Captain Rolith was close to the armory door. John walked up to greet him.

"Hello, Knight. You are Captain Rolith, I presume?" asked John

"I am. Welcome to Oaklore Keep, home to the Knights of the Pactagonal Table. I am Rolith, Captain of the Knights here at the Keep. The Keep stands here to protect all the subjects of Good King Alteon. There are several constant threats to the Kingdom and it's people. We do our best to keep these evil threats at bay and away. You seem very able. Please, lend a hand to any of the Knights that you can. But tell me, warrior, why are you here?"

"The Priestess called Lady Celestia and the Moglin called Twilly told me to inform you that they are taking the shortcut through the Forest."

"WHAT? You saw the Priestess on your way here? Why did you not tell me any sooner?"

"No disrespect, but I JUST GOT HERE, LIKE, TEN MINUTES AGO!"

"And she isn't coming to stop here at the Keep? The forest is crawling with bandits that are looking for her! She is in grave danger! You must go after her!"

"Yes, Sir!" said John. He ran out of the Keep and down the path to where he last saw the Priestess.

...

"Give the box Priestess and we'll kill you quickly." John heard someone say. He ran towards the voices.

"John! We must protect the Black Dragon Box at all costs!" said the Priestess as she put the box behind her.

"Leave them to me, Lady Celestia. I don't know who you are or why you want the box but you'd better..."

"My is name is Drakath! I am the leader of the Darkwolf bandits and the rightful ruler of this land! That box is key to my throne and there is NO way I am letting a Peasant like you keep it from me!

"PEASANT!"

"Stand down or, like the trash you are, you will be blown away by the winds of my great destiny!"

"You talk big but you don't look so tough. I _was_ just going to take the box and leave, but now you made it personal, buddy ol' pal. Let's see what you got!" said John. Then, two more bandits jumped down out of the trees.

"GET HIM!" yelled Drakath.

"COME GET SOME O' THIS!" screamed John. He then entered battle. He realized that Twilly was right behind him.

"Yeah!" said Twilly in a happy voice. Drakath coughed. "Fine. FIGHT!"

...

John and Twilly had won the battle. Ironicly, the one that felled Drakath was not John, but Twilly. John thought that "that just had to be embarassing!".

"Impossible! You just got lucky this time, warrior!" Drakath yelled angerly. Just then, a sneevil, a goblin-like creature, silently crept behind Lady Celestia.

"Oooooooooooooh! BOX!" he said as he grabbed the box and ran. Drakath and John didn't even notice.

"Luck had nothing to do with it! And the name is JOHN! REMEMBER IT!"

"Oh, I will... you can count on that!" Drakath said. Then he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Lady Celestia! I'm glad I got to you on time!"

"Thank you. I am grateful for the rescue. Alas, the box was taken by a sneevil while you were busy smack-talking."

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?"

"Well, you were really on a roll. I didn't want to interrupt you."

"..."

"You must recover the Black Dragon Box before it falls into the wrong hands. Travel to the town of Falconreach and meet with Twilly. He has friends that will help you find that Sneevil."

"Alright, I will travel to this town of Falconreach... but what about you?"

"Well... if you going to after the box with Twilly... then I am going to teleport back home and have some tea! Thank you, John! Goodbye!" and with that, she teleported back to her home.

"Well, I wonder what could be so important about that ordinary, black box." said John. "I believe I'll go back to the Keep for a while and think about things. Maybe I'll help some of the Knight's out with their activities."


	3. Helping Out the Knights

John had returned to the Keep and went to Rolith to see if any of the Knights needed help. He especially wanted to help the cook, for he had trained in the arts of food under the Master Cook.

"Captain Rolith, you said that some of the Knights may have needed help in their tasks or other things?" asked John.

"That I did, John. Is there any Knight in particular that you wish to help?"

"Is Sir Loin still the cook in this great Keep? Or have you given up on the old man?"

"Why, I remember now! You were trained in the culinary arts under Loin, were you not? I knew that you looked familar. Well, lucky for you, he does need help."

"Finally, someone remembers me! By the way, you need to teach Sir Comvent some manners. He isn't particularly fond of former or current mercenaries, is he?"

"Well, young, stubborn and honored-filled, that one. Baumbard often straightens him out, though. Get into a scuffle, did you two?"

"No, but Baumbard saved Comvent from landing on the ground with a bleeding nose."

"You're lucky he did. We would have been forced to take you prisoner if you did hit him. So, if I were you, I'd help Baumbard out as much as I could."

"Ok. Well, I'm going to help Loin now."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

...

"John, how are you? Good? Good. Now, I have hungry Knights to feed and somehow or another, Tuskmongers keep getting into our gardens and taking and eating all of the vegetables! Eh, hold on a sec... How's the grub boys?"

"This Captain Rhubarb Crunch is the best! And a great source of calcium with milk!" said Sir Reeval.

"I would like some more pancakes please!" said Sir Hup.

"This is the best sea food I have ever eaten... How did you do it?" asked Sir Fanturf.

"Hey! These sardines taste fishy... can I have steak instead?" asked Sir Deen. _Silence_. "What? What did I say?"

"Ignore him. These Knights eat so much it is hard to keep up. Especially since those Tuskmongers keep raiding my gardens! You look like a brave warrior these days, so I will make you a deal.

"Help me keep the garden clear and clean of Tuskmongers and when you stop by, all of your meals are on the house! So are you willing help?"

"That's what I came to talk about, I'll do it!"

"Ok, just clear as many as you can."

...

"Woah! Tuskmongers are stronger than I thought!" said John as he arrived back at the Mess Hall.

"Why do you think these Knights won't do it? Lazy cry-babies!"

"Hey!" said Sir Crys-a-lot

"No offense, Sir Crys-a-lot." said Sir Loin.

"Still hurt my feelings!" said the Knight as he ran off crying. Sir Loin turned back to John.

"See what I mean?"

"Yep." said John.

"Want anything to eat?"

"Doom Burger, please."

"Would you like me to super duper size that for you?" asked Loin.

"Yes, please!"

...

After he had eaten and talked with Sir Loin, John decided to go back to Captain Rolith. He found that Rolith had a lot more quests than he realized.

"Would you like to help any more Knights, John?" asked Rolith.

"What have you got on Sir Prize?"

"Sir Prize... he and Sir Kuss keep trying to prank each other out. Can you make sure he is not getting himself or anyone else into trouble?"

"Sure. Off I go."

...

"BOO! Gotcha! Ha ha! Sir Kuss the clown is always attempting to out-prank me! I have a great idea though. Wanna pull the ULTIMATE prank?" said Sir Prize

"I don't know..." said John

"Com'n!"

"Oh...ok!"

...

John ran up the hill to the outhouse.

"...Hmmm, I should bring this Daily Dragon newspaper article back for Sir Valence. I know how much he just loves sneevils." said Sir Kuss.

"Sir Prize sends his regards!" said John

"Oh no, not again..."

"SURPRISE!" yelled John and he pushed the outhouse off of the huge hill. Bounce, Bounce, Bounce, _Splash_!

"...Oh... oh my... Oh man, it's EVERYWHERE! It's in my sneevil wounds! WHY... why would you do this?... You're not even getting any experience for this! You... you're just... YOU'RE MEAN! That's what you are! (Man, this will never wash off!)

...

John ran up to Captain Rolith. He was looking for more Knights to help.

"Got anymore Knights to help, Captain?"

"No need to call me Captain, as you're not under my commander. Bit I did hear what you did to Sir Kuss. I highly disapproved of it, even though I laughed when it was reported to me Sir Tell. Hehe."

"I am truthfully sorry, Rolith. I did not realize that the action that I took would cause _that_ to happen. I regret I ever thought about doing it. But does anyone need help?"

"I believe Sir Vivor and Sir Casm need help. They are probably sill standing around talking about the Ruins and working on the Keep's catapult. "

"Ok, I'll go see if you need asisstance." John said. He went to the left.

...

"Hey, watch this! We finaly developed a way to travel in the Kingdom instead of Griffin Flight!" said Sir Vivor.

"Oh yeah! This is reeeeeaaaaallllly going to work!" said Sir Casm

"If this idea just happens to epically work... maybe we can go into the Ruins and search for Sir Jinns Legendary Lightning Blade! That would be awesome!"

"Suuuuure we will. Just like the last twenty thousand times we tried to find it?"

"What is Sir Jinn's Lightning Blade?" asked John.

"Sir Jinn was once a awesome Knight of the Pactagonal Table..." began Vivor

"Oh yeah, he was sooooooooooooo great..." interuptted Casm.

"All of the other Knights of the Table called him 'sparky' because of his special energy weapons given to him by King Atleon. But they were lost so long ago in the ruins. I believe that those storm elementals are guarding then, but I can't get close enough. Want to try?"

"Sure!"

...

"Those big elementals were sure hard. This journal calls them Positros, the solid-energy elemental, Tempest, the Wind Elemental, and Flood, the water elemental. I sure glad that those Puddles, Sunwisp and thunderheads weren't each as hard as Positros. I would have failed for sure!" said John. He beheld the chest that must hold Jinn's weapons. He opened the chest and there he found three weapons: Sir Jinn's Sword, Sir Jinn's Dagger and Sir Jinn's Staff.

"Wow!" said John as he picked up all three and put them in his backpack. He wielded Jinn's Sword. "This sword is awesome! I guess I better return to Sir Vivor and Sir Casm!"

...

"Wow! You actually got the weapons!" exclaimed Sir Vivor. "That's just awesome!"

"Like, sooooooooooooooooooo awesome! You are my favorite adventurer!" said Sir Casm.

"Thanks, guys! I like the sword. The Dagger and Staff are also pretty useful. I think I'll return to Rolith now!"

"Bye!"

"Good day, hero!"

"Bye, guys!"

...

John returned to Captain Rolith, wielding the sword of Sir Jinn.

"Well done, hero! You have retrieved Sir Jinn's weapons. As a token of our gratitude for helping us, we are allowing you to keep the sword."

"Thank you!"

"Now, hero, you may head to Falconreach, but be warned, a hydra is blocking the bridge. To get passed it, you must slay it, or be very sealthy and sneak past it."

"Yay! Just great. Well, see ya, Rolith!"

"Bye, John!" Rolith replied as John sped out of the keep and to the path to the east.


	4. Odd Jobs

John had defeated three bandits, a giant bear and a three headed Hydra! All to get to Falconreach! At the moment, Ash and Twilly had joined him and they were going to do one of Ash's quests.

"Well, I have a quest for the Sneevil Treefort! You guys want to fight those no-good theives?" asked Ash.

"I guess we should. I want to fight, but I don't want to fight anything super hard that will take forever!"

"Good, becuase Sneevils are a short, golbin-like, weak species that usually dwells in trees or..." Twilly started.

"Twilly! Please no history lesson today!" said John.

"Fine!" replied Twilly.

"Let's go see if Yulgar has any weapons we can buy!"

"Ok. I believe his shop is just over here." said Ash.

"Yes, it is. Yulgar has been making weapons for the adventurers and Warriors of Falconreach for..." began Twilly.

"Not Again, Twilly!" snapped John.

"Oh Com'n!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Not even the history of the last two decades?"

"Especially No."

"Dang it! Can I pwease..."

"Not gonna work on me again, Twilly!"

"Rweally?"

"Not working."

"Not even with a chwerry on top?"

"Twilly, just please shut up."

"Fine. I warn you, Yulgar's stuff is a bit expensive."

"I'll just do Ash's job first, then."

"Ok!"

"Ok guys, the Tree Fort is just over here!" said Ash as the adventurers started off.

...

"Well, here we are at the first platform of the TreeFort! Look, there's a door! But there a bunch of sneevils around here. Be really careful, guys!" said John as they reached the first platform.

"Ok, I think we'll have to do some special knock!" said Ash. John walked up to the door and knocked.

"Yeah? Wus da passwurd?" said a sneevil. "Hello? Yous still there?" John, Twilly and Ash went to look for some notes or something. Just more sneevils to fight.

...

"Well, we's fought through those Sneevil Arcas and gots the Password Notes! I rweally hope this works!" said Twilly. John went forward and knocked.

"Yeah? Wus the passwurd?" asked the Door Keeper.

"Flibbertygibbit." said John.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, great. Now doo the secret Sneevils nock! Do eet! Do eet!" sadi the Sneevil. John stepped forward and knocked.

"Wowz! Dat's da best nock I's eber hurd! Get een eer!"

...

"Oh no! It's a human and he knows our secret knock!" said the Box Officer Manager.

"How did he figure eet out!?" said another Sneevil

"... Or he is da tallest Sneevil I's eber heard!" said a Boxer.

"Here we go!" said John. Then he and his friends fought them.

...

"Wow! That's the Tallest Sneevil I've ever seen!" said Ash. He was talking about the Sneevil Box- Lord of the Tree Fort.

"Let's get 'em!" yelled Twilly. "HIGHYA!" screamed Twilly as he lurched toward the Lord. "OOF!" he exclaimed as the Box- Lord kicked him back. He fell back down the ladder.

"OH, YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" yelled John and Ash together. They engaged in combat.

...

"Twilly, you ok? You never came back up to help us!" yelled John down the Ladder.

"I'm fine. Hey, cool new sword!" said Twilly. He was talking about Static, the sword John found on the Lord.

"Thanks. Now back to Falconreach! I'll check one of Ash's letter's out!"

...

"Hey, Ash, you said that you would hold some letters for me? Do I have any?" asked John.

"Oh, yes. You have one from Yulgar, Warlic, Cysero, and one from Miss Fixit." replied John.

"What does the one from Yulgar say?"

_Greetings Adventurer!_

_I was hoping I could get your help with something. I would do it my slef, but someone has to run my store and Konnan isn't ready just yet._

_I'll explain more the next time I see you, but let's just say there is a possible chance that I could forge a very special weapon for you. Please visit me at my Weapon's Shop as soon as you possibly can!_

_Thanks,_

_Yulgar the Weapon's Smith._

"Hmm, I guess I'll go visit Yulgar and find out what this letter is about. I hope it isn't anything too hard for young, new heros like Ash and I."

"HEY!"

"Oh, do even deny it!"

"Whatever!" said Ash. John, Twilly and Ash then went to Yulgar's shop.

...

"Hello, Yulgar. What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, get my letter, you did? I want to ask you to quest for Ahzite Ore? It can only be found in the jungles of the south, but if you help me out, I could make some new weapons for you!"

"I guess Ash, Twilly and I can go look for some."

"Ok, be careful, young heros. I want to be responsible for your Death.

"WHAT?"

"Nothing. Bye."

"Bye..."

...

"Man, that Moai was super hard, even for an awesome Hero like me! And we only found ONE ORE!" said Ash.

"Ash, you'll never be a AWESOME Hero. I know it sounds very mean to you, buddy, but the stupid truth hurts." said Twilly.

"Why you little Red, big-eared, rat from your little sewer home..."

"ASH! Never, EVER say that about a Moglin. They may be smal, but they look out for each other. Before you know it, all of the Moglins around will end up jumping you." said John.

"Yeah right."

"Ash, I am only trying to protect you. Now say sorry to Twilly."

"Never."

"SAY IT."

"FINE! I, Ash, an truly sorry that I made fun of you, Twilly the Red Moglin."

"It's ok." said Twilly.

"Let's go quest for Ore again after Twilly heals us." said John

"Who said I have to heal you? I never signed a contract to heal every single member of the group." asked Twilly.

"Yeah, you did." said John, pulling out Twilly's Healing Contract."

"Fine. But I won't like it!"

"You don't have to like it, you just have to do it!"

...


End file.
